


Just So

by Dreamformetoo



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Getting Back Together, Idiots in Love, M/M, Pining Draco Malfoy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-11-06 19:55:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17946104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamformetoo/pseuds/Dreamformetoo
Summary: After breaking up with Harry, Draco tries to date someone new and realizes that he'll never get over Harry Potter. And he doesn't want to, either.





	Just So

**Author's Note:**

> Finally writing a drarry fic! I love these boys and wanted to give it a shot, so here you go. Thanks to V for the beta! Comments are appreciated, you can find me at dreamformetoo on tumblr!

Draco was on a perfectly good date and yet he couldn’t stand it.

He was sitting across from Eric, a man who by all accounts was perfect, and all Draco wanted to do was get up and leave. Ridiculous.

Eric worked at St. Mungo's and lived in a nice flat in Hampstead. He was tall and polite and his teeth were impossibly straight. When he smiled, Draco got the sense that Eric had never given an insincere compliment in his life.

He was a Slytherin, of course. Two years older than Draco with an admiration for potions and Quidditch and he didn’t call Draco out on any of his sarcastic comments. He just took them with a grin.

And maybe that’s what it was.

This was their fourth date and Draco couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t more excited about this. Three years ago, Draco had thought he’d never be in a relationship, let alone one with a man. Now he had an attractive, intelligent, kind man giving him attention and Draco just...couldn’t bring himself to care.

Eric was too smooth around the edges. Too polite, too grounded, too understanding.

During their last date, when Draco’s sleeve had bunched up, revealing the Dark Mark on his arm, Eric had just reached over, tugging Draco’s sleeve down before wrapping a hand around his wrist and squeezing in understanding.

Harry would never have done that. Well, at least not at the beginning.

When Harry had first seen the Mark, he’d flinched. Actually _flinched_. Draco hadn’t blamed him. Draco himself had a hard time looking at it sometimes. Later, after they’d started dating, they’d been at Draco’s flat after dinner and Harry had suddenly reached over and pushed Draco’s sleeve up. Draco had gone silent and watched as Harry traced his finger around the Mark, barely even touching Draco’s skin.

He’d told Draco that really it was only a scar. A scar that marked him but didn’t define him, not anymore.

They’d had sex for the first time that night, and when Harry had licked Draco’s forearm without even an ounce of hesitation, Draco had felt stars exploding in his chest.

Eric would never. Could never. He was too polite and well trained by his Pureblood parents to even comment on the Mark.

“What do you think, Draco?”

Draco blinked and realized Eric had been talking. Shit.

“Ah, I’m so sorry. I was lost in my mind for a moment, I think. What did you say?”

Eric grinned in that easy, nothing really gets to me way of his and shrugged. “It happens to all of us. I was asking if you’d want to attend the fundraising gala with me next month, on the 20th.”

“Oh,” Draco replied. He twisted the napkin in his lap. “You know, I think I’d have to check my schedule before I could give you an answer.”

“Of course!” Eric reached across the table to squeeze Draco’s shoulder. “Just let me know, alright?”

Draco felt reasonably sure that he wasn’t going to attend the gala with Eric. He’d be severely disappointed in himself if he strung this man along for another month. But still. Draco couldn’t yet bring himself to end things. He may not be feeling butterflies, but maybe Eric would grow on him.

 

 

Later, when they were leaving the restaurant, a photographer flashed his camera at them from across the street. Draco’s hands curled into fists on instinct, ready to throw some choice words at the smirking creep.

Eric tugged at Draco’s waist, pulling him closer and turning them away.

“A bit annoying, but they’ve got to make a living too, don’t they?”

Draco bit his tongue to hold his thoughts in.

“Right."

 

 

The next day when Draco met Eric for coffee, he ended things. He was reluctant, but certain. He couldn’t do this anymore, not even if Pansy said he just needed to give it time.

“You’re still moving on, dear. You’ve got to get Potter out of your brain.”

The trouble was that Eric had made Draco realize that he didn’t _want_ to get Harry out of his brain.

It’d only been two months since they’d ended things, and Draco had thought he was ready. He wasn’t.

He was still pining for that infuriating idiot and Draco wanted to hate himself for it, but he couldn’t. They’d been frustrating and difficult and complicated and _perfect_. They had been perfect.

Eric had the potential to be perfect too, but in all the wrong ways. He was perfect in the way Draco’s mother would approve of. A Pureblood match with a large wedding and connections rebuilt. Not the kind of perfect that Draco was after anymore.

Eric was so good that he actually meant it when he told Draco they should still be friends.

“I get it, Draco. You’re just not ready,” he said after Draco broke the news to him. “Harry Potter must really have done a number on you.”

Draco grinned uneasily but shrugged. “Something like that.”

“Well,” Eric continued, “Would you still want to go to the gala with me? As friends of course! To be honest, you’re one of the only people I’ve met in awhile that hasn’t been a complete bore. We may not be together, but I think it would still be fun. What do you think?”

Feeling a weight lifted off of his shoulders, Draco reached for his tea. “Yes, I think that sounds like a good idea."  


 

It was two days later, after the Prophet had posted the picture of Draco and Eric leaving dinner, that he saw Harry.

He and Pansy had met for lunch on Diagon, where she’d been ecstatic about the picture (and the headline - _Malfoy Slithers Back Into A Relationship)_ and then disappointed when Draco had told her that the Prophet article was already old news.

“Still,” she said, “At least you got an invite to the St Mungo’s function out of it. Those tickets were so hard to come by!”

Draco rolled his eyes and reached out to hold the door as she stepped outside.

“I mean, of course I have a ticket, but that’s only because of my-”

Draco stumbled, walking into Pansy as she suddenly stopped under the restaurant awning. He opened his mouth to complain and then looked up and saw who she was staring at.

It was Harry, of course.

He stood a foot in front of them, obviously headed into the restaurant they’d just left. His hair had grown out some, to that length that Draco could never resist running his hands through. He had his denim jacket on over a grey shirt that Draco was certain had been his.

Draco swallowed and met Harry’s eyes.

In them he saw shock, and if Draco didn’t know better, he’d say that Harry looked a bit hurt at the sight of him.

Draco was feeling the same.

In his head he heard the last words they’d spoken to each other. _Hypocrite. Liar. Pathetic. Coward._ Biting, angry words that had been snapped and barked and that really wouldn’t have been all that bad if they both weren’t too stubborn to apologize.

That’s really what had done them in. Draco had apparated out of Harry’s flat, staying with Pansy for a week before he realized that Harry wasn’t coming to apologize. Eventually, Pansy had had enough and escorted Draco to Grimmauld to collect his things. Even then, he and Harry hadn’t said a word to each other.

“Well, hello, Potter,” Pansy spoke, tilting her head back.

“Hey, Pansy. Draco.”

Draco nodded, his mouth suddenly dry.

“Harry.”

A door to their left chimed as it opened, and Pansy’s face brightened when she looked over. Draco himself was having a hard time looking away from Harry, as had been his problem for literal years.

“Eric!” Pansy beamed.

That got Draco’s attention. He turned to see Eric approaching them, that large grin of his on display.

“Afternoon, Pansy! Draco, lucky I caught you!”

A door banged and Draco and Pansy jumped, looking back to see that Harry had let himself into the restaurant behind them.

Draco frowned, but didn’t resist when Pansy tugged him away. Harry must have seen the Prophet article.

 

 

It was a week later when Draco ran into Harry at the Ministry. He’d been there to get some research articles from Hermione about the project he’d been working on (both of them studiously avoiding any mention of Harry) and was just leaving her office when a dark head of hair appeared down the hall.

Draco would recognize that mess of a head anywhere. He was just about to turn around and take the long way when Harry looked up and saw him.

Merlin, Draco was still so in love with him.

“Hey, Draco” Harry said as he got closer.

Draco stepped farther away from Hermione’s office door and leaned against the wall. “Hi, Harry.”

Harry’s lips quirked up for a moment before he seemed to remember that they somehow weren’t on speaking terms right now.

“Are you here to see Hermione?”

Draco nodded, gesturing to the scrolls in his arms.

“Just leaving, actually.”

“Oh. Right.”

Harry stood just before him, hands in his pockets, looking determinedly at Draco’s shoulder. He had to get out of here before this got anymore awkward.

“Well, I-”

“Look, Draco…”

Draco stopped, holding the scrolls close to his chest.

“Yes?”

“I just wanted to say, I saw the article about you and...you and that bloke from Mungo’s and I want you to know I’m happy for you.”

Oh. Oh no.

Harry reached up to rub at the back of his neck.

“I know we ended things a bit abruptly, but I don’t want you to think I hate you or anything. Far from it. I’m actually...I’m really sorry about what I said. I just didn’t-”

Hermione’s office door opened beside them and she stepped out with a grin.

“Harry! Just in time, Ron’s just flooed and says our table is ready. Sorry, Draco, we’ve got to run.”

Harry blinked and put his hand back in his pocket.

“Right! Er, well I’ll see you around then, Draco.”

Draco stood silent as they went back into Hermione’s office. The scrolls in his hands fell to the floor as he brought his hands up to his face, taking deep breaths as he took in what’d just happened.

Harry thought he’d actually _moved on._ As if Draco could just...could just do that. Fuck. And he’d apologized! That bloody prat had actually _apologized._

Shit, shit, shit. This was not good at all, Draco thought as he bent down to grab his papers. How could Harry actually think that Draco would just forget about what they’d had so soon? Draco had to do something, and fast.

 

 

It turned out that Draco wasn’t very good at this sort of thing. He owled Harry that next day, asking if they could meet and talk. By the time Harry replied, explaining that maybe it wasn’t the best idea just yet, Draco was in a panic.

It didn’t help that it was the night of the St. Mungo’s gala and he was supposed to be meeting Eric in just ten minutes.

Draco had really wanted to just back out of it, not wanting to make any more false headlines that Harry might see, but Pansy had refused to let him.

“Not only is this the most talked about gala of the year, but you can’t leave me alone with Blaise all night! He’s just back from Paris and you _know_ that’s all he’s going to be talking about.”

Draco had agreed and thought, stepping into his fireplace, that Pansy rather owed him.  


 

Eric met him at the entrance in green robes that made Draco smile. What a Slytherin.

Draco himself had chosen to wear the navy robes that Harry had always liked. Draco was certainly not subtle.

“You look fantastic, Draco,” Eric greeted him.

“Thank you. I see you went with house colors tonight, it looks great on you.”

Eric shrugged, “What can I say, once a Slytherin always a Slytherin. Shall we?”

Draco followed Eric into the ballroom, taking in the atmosphere but also searching for a familiar head of hair.

Draco spotted Harry at the bar, standing between Hermione and Ron with their backs towards the entrance. Draco swallowed and reminded himself to stay calm. If he was going to get Harry back, he’d have to stay in control of himself. (Which was something Draco was exceptional at, except of course when anything Potter related was involved).

Draco stood at a table with Eric, Pansy, and Blaise, who as Pansy correctly had guessed, only wanted to talk about his latest adventures in France. Draco and Pansy rolled their eyes at each other, but Eric was his typical, attentive conversationalist.

As the night continued, with Draco refilling his drinks, dancing with Pansy, and keeping a track on where Harry and his friends were moving to, Draco realized that Eric and Blaise were actually getting along rather well. Not an uncommon characteristic of Eric, but certainly of Blaise who was known to have the attention span of a goldfish.

“Pansy, is it just me, or does our Blaise seem to have a crush on my new friend?” Draco asked, leaning against the bar while they waited for their next round.

Pansy tilted her head and glanced back at their table.

Blaise and Eric stood beside each other, close enough that their shoulders were brushing. Their heads were tipped towards each other and Eric was flushed.

“My dear, Draco, I think you’re right. Oh, this is wonderful! Now you’re certainly off the hook, aren’t you?”

Draco nodded, “It would certainly seem so. Now, where was he....”

Draco searched the room, wondering where Harry had gone and if he was alone... Ah, there he was.

Harry stood on the opposite side of the room, laughing with Longbottom and Luna. For the first time that night, Draco looked him over. Harry had always had trouble dressing for these sorts of events, but he’d done well tonight. Dragonhide boots, maroon robes that went wonderfully with his tan skin, and those glasses that Draco loved to make fun of but were secretly one of his favorite things about Harry. He’d gotten new ones last year and had opted for the same type of circular frames that he’d had his whole life. Draco had made fun of him for hours, but he could still feel the cool press of them against his cheek from when Harry would press kisses to his neck.

Draco had to get him back. He’d do anything.

“Ugh, get a room,” Pansy groaned next to him. “You do realize he’s staring at you too, right?”

Draco blinked and realized that yes, Harry was looking right back at him.

Pansy squeezed Draco’s hand. “Go get him, love. I can’t stand to see you suffering any longer.”

She was right. Draco had been suffering. He’d been stupid to be so stubborn and caustic and wrong. He’d been so wrong and he needed Harry to know that. Breaking eye contact, Draco headed towards the balcony doors, hoping that Harry would follow.

The night was cool when Draco stepped outside and he let out a breath, watching it fog out in front of him. The door behind him opened and closed. Draco closed his eyes.

“Harry.”

“Draco.”

He felt Harry step up to the railing beside him and opened his eyes.

“I miss you,” Draco whispered.

Harry sighed next to him, turning around to lean back against the ledge.

“I miss you too, Draco. But this isn’t fair. You can’t...you can’t talk to me like this and _look_ at me like you did and be with someone else. It’s not fair to me and it certainly isn’t fair to him.” Harry took a shaky breath. “I love you more than anything, and I still want you, but I respect your decision and I don’t want to get in the middle of you starting something new.”

He started to step away but Draco reached out and grabbed his wrist.

Harry looked back at him, brow furrowed as he looked into Draco’s eyes.

“Draco, really-”

Draco shook his head, grip tight on Harry’s wrist.

“No. No, Harry, you’ve got it all wrong. I’m not starting _anything_ , I promise.” Draco let out a laugh. “I could _never._ What I felt for you, I still feel it. Every day, every moment, I can’t get you out of my heart and I don’t want to. Truly! I just...you’ve apologized to me but now it’s my turn.”

Draco stared at Harry, seeing the resolve grow in his expression. He let go of Harry’s wrist but stepped closer to him.

“Everything I said...I’m so sorry. And I know that it’s not just the conversation I should be sorry for. I’m sorry for letting this go on for so long. For not just coming back to you right away and fixing things. I was stubborn and stupid. So, so stupid.”

“Me too,” Harry replied. “I should have gone after you.”

Draco grinned. “Right, but you shouldn’t have had to. We both said terrible things and just didn’t...deal with it. But I miss you. So much. And Eric was great, but he’s not right for me. He’s polite and funny and kind, but...he’s not _you._ ”

Harry’s eyes were wide and bright in the moonlight as Draco closed the distance between them.

“I only want you, Harry,” he whispered.

Their lips met and Draco groaned in relief when Harry’s hands pulled him closer, pulling them together. Draco lost himself in the kiss, licking his way into Harry’s mouth as Harry pushed him back against the railing.

“I love you,” Harry mumbled into Draco’s neck, pressing kisses down it.

Draco felt the cool edge of Harry’s glasses and grinned as he pushed a hand into his hair.

“I love you, too. We’d better get back inside, though, before anyone catches us out here.”

Harry sighed but took a step back, reaching his hand out for Draco’s.

“What, you don’t want another Prophet headline? _Malfoy Slithers Back to Potter_ , doesn’t sound good to you?”

Draco laughed and squeezed Harry’s hand, pulling open the door back to the gala. “Shut up, Potter.”

“Make me,” Harry smirked and pulled Draco closer, biting at his ear.

Draco shoved Harry away with a smile. This was what he’d missed. What he wouldn’t get with anyone else.

“Maybe later,” Draco said with a coy smile. “For now, let’s get a drink.”


End file.
